


The Misunderstanding

by reallydontcare4



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Fake Dating, I'm using this to procrastinate another fic, Jealous!Jeremy, Jealous!Rich, Jealousy, M/M, Michael and Jake pine hard, Misunderstandings, assumed relationships, because I'm incapable of making a good decision, endgame arson bros and boyf riends, everyone's pining, pinkberry's pretty minor, the others will show up in later chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-13 23:29:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11770698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reallydontcare4/pseuds/reallydontcare4
Summary: Michael and Jake vent to each other about their respective crushes, everyone's happy, and it works.Until it doesn't.





	1. Oh Shit

Michael groaned as he flopped down on the bed.

 

“Ugh, he looked so cute in that cardigan today! Why did God have to make him straight?! It’s so unfair!”

 

Jake smirked as he watched Michael whine from his desk. He was, of course, talking about Jeremy Heere. The poor guy had a crush on him for years. Jake would tease him for it if he wasn't in a similarly unfortunate situation with his own best friend.

 

Jake and Michael had gotten a lot closer recently, after the former had accidentally texted the other complaining about Rich when he had meant to text Chloe. He had to admit, it was better to have someone who could relate. Chloe had lost that ability after Brooke had confessed her undying love. They were now in a happy relationship. He knew he should be happy for them, but it was a little disheartening seeing his friends have what he’d never have with Rich.

 

“Tell me about it. I’m pretty sure I would be decently more successful in life if Rich didn’t dress exclusively in muscle tees.”

 

Michael chuckled from his spot on the bed and they fell into a comfortable silence. That wasn’t uncommon between them. It was nice to just be able to sit and reflect, knowing you could tell the other whatever you were thinking at any point. They both felt kind of guilty that their secrets stopped them from sharing moments like these with their best friends, but they enjoyed them nonetheless.

 

After a while, Michael decided to break the silence, tired of sulking to himself.

 

“So,” he began conversationally, “wanna play Mario Kart?”

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake felt like he was dying. It was the next day at school, and Rich was feeling particularly excited for an upcoming football game he wanted to watch. Honestly, Jake could only keep up with half of what he was saying, because he was far too distracted by Rich’s arm around his shoulders as he enthusiastically described what he thought would happen. It felt like they’d had constant physical contact between them that day, and it was driving Jake crazy.

 

He couldn’t decide whether he wanted to stare at Rich or literally anywhere else, and he was 90% sure he was about to spontaneously combust. He needed to vent, bad. Where the hell was Michael? His eyes began scanning the halls but came up empty, and he anxiously chewed his lip.

 

“What’re you looking for?” Rich’s voice broke him out of his thoughts as his friend stood on his toes (though he was still too short to actually see over anyone’s head) and tried to see what was there.

 

“Nah, it’s nothing, just… needed to give Madeline a paper for English…” He fumbled, internally cursing himself for his stupid excuse.

 

Rich eyed him for a moment before shrugging. This backfired on him five minutes later when they ran into said girl and he had to hand over a copy of his essay where he had scribbled the words “I’m sorry” and “Please pretend you need this” messily onto it to a very confused Madeline. Damn it.

 

Most of the day passed by similarly, and Jake had been more and more irritated by Rich’s near constant contact and desperately wished he could find Michael. Unfortunately, Michael was late to lunch, and a red-faced Jake gripped his fork a little too tightly as he pushed his pasta around. He had long since blocked out the other conversations, as he couldn’t and didn’t really want to focus on anything in particular.

 

“What’s up with Jake?” Jeremy asked Rich, watching him stab at his food.

 

“I’m not sure, he’s been kind of weird today.” Rich pursed his lips and thought before gasping. “Oohhhh, I know that look. That’s the look he used to have with Chloe… someone’s got him all hot and bothered.”

 

Rich said this with a smirk but it was a little tense, an observation which Jeremy decided not to voice. He was about to ask who Rich thought it could be when he was distracted by Michael’s arrival. Michael strode up to the table and slid into his usual seat next to Jeremy.

 

“Hey.” Michael greeted, slipping his headphones off.

 

Jake’s head shot up at this, and a startled Michael gave him a confused look.

 

“Do you want to come over today?” Jake said with a weird undertone of urgency.

 

Michael’s eyes shot to Jeremy and Rich for barely a second, realization dawning on his face as he took in Jake’s expression.

 

“Yeah, man. I’ll come over at three?”

 

“Great. My parents are gone and I’ll probably be in my room, so you can just let yourself in.” Jake nodded, looking slightly more relieved.

 

Jeremy and Rich shared a look. Neither could shake the feeling that they were missing something, but Rich had a pretty good idea of what it could be. He glanced at the rest of the table, but the girls were deep into their own discussion, and hadn’t been paying attention.

 

Lunch passed quickly after that, each lost in their own thoughts. As they got up to leave, Michael gave Jake a supportive smile and a comforting pat on the back before turning to wait for Jeremy so they could walk to math.

 

Jeremy moved toward him, but was stopped by a tug on the arm. Rich smiled at Michael but kept his grip on Jeremy, turning back to him.

 

“Can I talk to you?”

 

“Uh, okay. You go ahead, Michael, I’ll meet you there.” Michael looked puzzled and vaguely suspicious but nodded and walked off anyways.

 

Jeremy turned and was going to ask Rich what the hell that was about when Rich stopped him.

 

“Did you see that?” He asked, eyes wide.

 

“See what?” Jeremy’s face scrunched up in confusion.

 

Rich looked exasperated. “Dude, I know you’re oblivious, but come on. Jake and Michael! Did you see them?”

 

“Oh, yeah. They were acting kind of weird. What do you think’s going on?”

 

“They’re sleeping together! Or they’re dating! It has to be something!” Jeremy suddenly felt a little nauseous and wondered if his lunch was expired.

 

“Wouldn’t they have told us?”

 

“I don’t know… not necessarily? Maybe they think we’d be weirded out. But the way Jake looked so relieved at Michael’s presence? The inviting him over to his house like it was a common occurrence? The parents not being home?!” Rich made a decent point, and both boys found themselves a little disappointed to come up empty handed for other possibilities.

 

Jeremy bit back the comment about Jake’s parents never being home in the first place, instead mulling over what Rich had said. Rich made him promise he’d tell him if he found anything out, and they both departed to their respective classes.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy waved goodbye to Michael after being dropped off at home, wandering inside and putting his backpack down. He’d been thinking a lot about what Rich had said. He had noticed Jake and Michael becoming friendlier recently, but he just assumed they were finally warming up to each other. Michael was gay, he knew that, but he thought Jake was straight. Maybe he wasn’t as straight as he thought he was.

 

Maybe Jeremy wasn’t as straight as he thought he was either. He kept trying to dismiss this thought, but he couldn’t help but wonder. Why did he feel so uncomfortable thinking about Michael and Jake together? Shouldn’t he be supportive? Isn’t that what best friends do? Michael had seemed completely supportive of Jeremy and Christine, and he’d been just as supportive when they broke up. So why didn’t Jeremy do the same? Was he just a bad friend? Oh god, was he homophobic? He tried to imagine Michael with other people, and tried to imagine him with a girl (which felt weird because he knew Michael wasn’t into girls), but he still had that sour feeling in his stomach. Plus, hadn’t he been okay with Michael coming out to him in the first place?

 

There was just something that really bothered Jeremy about thinking of Jake with Michael. He thought about Jake running his hands through Michael’s soft hair and making him blush. Michael looked really pretty when he blushed. His eyes were really pretty, too, and his glasses framed them perfectly, and-

Oh.

 

Oh shit.

 

No, no no no no no. This was not happening. Nope, nope, nope-ity nope nope.

 

Jeremy leaned back against the wall and slid down it, trying to think about all the great things he liked about Michael as a friend. He was funny, and supportive, and comforting, and the most amazing best friend that Jeremy _cannot afford to lose_.

 

But he was also so sweet, and smart, and creative, and really, really attractive.

 

This could not be happening. Jeremy felt like his world was imploding. These feelings didn’t even feel new. How long had it been like this? How had he not noticed?

 

Thinking back on their interactions and about the adorable and amazing person that was Michael Mell, Jeremy simultaneously realized two things:

 

One, he was probably not as straight as he had previously thought.

 

And two, he was desperately in love with his best friend.

 

Oh shit.


	2. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy's distant, and Jake screws up just a little bit more.
> 
> Then, a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this may be the longest piece I've written in one sitting. I'm working on another boyf riends fic that's significantly longer, but this chapter is over 2000 words, and I usually work on the other in increments of 1000-2000 words at a time. I hope you like the new chapter! I had more fun writing it than I thought I would.

Jeremy didn't know what to do. It was like he suddenly forgot how to even act around Michael, as if everything was different. At the same time, nothing had changed. Michael still had the same laugh, the same face, the same everything. Except now, Jeremy became uncomfortably aware of how his stomach twisted when his best friend smiled at him, and how warm he felt as he brushed up against him.

 

He didn't know what to do, and he hated that. Part of him wished he was still oblivious to his own emotions, so that his life could remain as uncomplicated and simple as possible. On the other hand, it felt kind of amazing. It was almost addictive, feeling like this. The rush of joy when Michael entered the room, the electricity that accompanied every touch. Jeremy simultaneously wanted to get impossibly close to Michael and never touch him again.

 

Because this was Michael. This was his _best friend._ The guy who'd always been there for Jeremy, no matter what. He was so perfect and good, and Jeremy was so...

 

There was no way he felt the same, and that hurt. A lot. He shouldn't be letting himself enjoy the feeling, and he knew that. If he let himself fall deeper, it'll be that much more painful when it blows up in his face. It'd be best to try to get some space. If he just stopped interacting so nonstop with Michael, the feelings would go away, and then they could hang out again and everyone would be happy and everything would be okay.

 

At least, Jeremy hoped so.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael sat in his science class and stared straight ahead, trying to keep his anxiety at bay. It wasn't working very well, and he could feel it bubbling in his chest and threatening to crawl up his throat.

 

Jeremy'd been weird. All day. He acted like he was normal, but something was way off, and it was painfully obvious. He'd been totally silent when Michael picked him up for school, and when he laughed, it sounded distracted and fake. He doubted Jeremy had even heard most of the things he'd said. When he asked, Jeremy had stumbled through some bull about not sleeping much, which, yeah, was probably true, but not the source of the issue.

 

And that was Michael's main problem. He was 95% sure _he_ was the source of the issue, and the percentage kept getting higher as the class droned on. Every time his arm brushed Jeremy's, the other boy jolted a little like he was electrocuted, and when Michael grabbed his shoulder to get his attention, Jeremy's face flushed a deep red and he looked vaguely stricken.

 

He just couldn't understand what he had done. Was Jeremy mad? Was the Squip back? Was someone messing with him again?

 

Oh, god.

 

Had he found out about Michael's crush on him? Was he pissed? Was he disgusted? No, knowing Jeremy, he was scared. He didn't know how to let Michael down, didn't know how to tell him they couldn't be friends anymore.

 

Michael wanted to stab himself for ruining a 12 year long friendship like this. He'd tried so hard to keep it a secret! They'd been able to survive a frickin supercomputer lodged in Jeremy's head, and this is what undid them? He wanted to carve out his heart for causing all of this in the first place, and with his current state of heartbreak, fear, and panic, it would probably hurt less.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake sweated nervously in his seat. Rich had been shooting him knowing looks during the entire period, and he had absolutely no idea what the hell they could mean. What did he know? Why did he know it? Was Jake overthinking things?

 

The bell rang and Jake stood to gather his things. In the blink of an eye, Rich was standing right beside him. Jake startled, barely stopping himself from dropping his computer.

 

"Jesus, man. You scared me." He huffed, pointing out the obvious as he slid his computer into his bag.

 

They started walking out into the hall as Rich searched his face for something.

 

"So," Rich began, casually. "You seeing anyone? Got your eye on a special someone? Have a little crush? Looking-"

 

"I get it." Jake chuckled a little. "And no, not really. Why?"

 

Rich pouted and gave him a weird look.

 

"Are you sure? Because _I'm_ pretty sure there's something you've chosen to keep secret from me."

 

_What._

Rich knows. He knows. He has to know. Alarms went off in Jake's head and he forced himself to stay calm. It couldn't be. How would he have found out? Michael would never tell. Plus, if he did, Jake could reveal his crush on Jeremy. Which he would never do. Right?

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Come on, dude, admit it." Rich leveled his gaze at him, and Jake swallowed hard.

 

Think, Dillinger, think. Come up with something else, find a solution. He could change the subject, but Rich wouldn't fall for it. It'd just make him seem more suspicious. He could pretend to have a crush on someone else? No, that'd be stupid. Then it'd be like a cheesy movie or something and he'd have to keep faking it. Those things only ever end well in fanfiction. Think, goddamnit! He wished Michael were here to give him advice or help him out.

 

Michael.

 

Michael.

 

"I'm dating Michael!" His mouth decides to blurt out, which.

 

Fuck.

 

So much for the 'no-cheesy-romance-fake-dating' route. His mouth opens automatically to try damage control, but he clamps it shut again because he really has no idea what he'd say and he doesn't really want to find out.

 

An odd look passes over Rich as he gasps.

 

"I KNEW it! God, wait til Jeremy hears about this. I cannot believe you didn't tell me!"

 

Jake stares blankly back and goes over what happened in the last few minutes. Was this reality? Everything felt kind of surreal. Did he ever wake up that morning? Maybe he was hallucinating.

 

Rich punched him lightly in the arm and Jake looked down at him. Rich's words sunk in a little further.

 

"What do you mean, you knew it?"

 

"Pssh." Rich scoffed. "I'm your best friend, I can tell when someone's got you riled up. I know you like the back of my hand, dude. You can't keep anything from me."

 

Jake wondered what secrets the back of his hand was apparently keeping from him.

 

Maybe it was secretly in love with the other hand. Or having an affair with his foot.

 

His mind blanked again for a second and he had the passing thought that he wasn't making sense. He couldn't make sense of what Rich was saying, so his brain was just functioning on surface level. He was in shock.

 

Rich changed the subject to something funny that had happened in one of his other classes, and Jake followed him to lunch.

 

He had no idea how to tell Michael that they were apparently dating now, or at least that Rich thought they were. Jake just prayed that Rich wouldn't mention it to the rest of their friends. He decided to tune back in to their conversation.

 

"So, we're all set for a party at my place?" Rich was saying, and everyone was nodding in agreement.

 

Jake nodded along to hide his confusion. They were having a party? When? At least it was at Rich's house this time. He shot a look to Michael, who he knew would assume he'd zoned out thinking about Rich. Which, in a way, he had. Michael gave him a knowing look (he was so tired of all these knowing looks, especially because the person was always wrong) and turned back to Rich.

 

"What time was the party again?" Michael asked innocently.

 

Everyone groaned and Jeremy chuckled quietly.

 

"Dude, seriously? He said it like three times." Chloe said in disbelief.

 

"Yeah," Jenna laughed. "I think your headphones are starting to make you go deaf."

 

"Yeah, yeah, hardy har." Michael pouted. "Seriously though?"

 

"It's tonight at 7." Rich supplied, and Michael sent Jake a sideways glance that said "you owe me".

 

Jake smiled at him and felt internally guilty because he had just dragged him into a whole mess with Rich. He had to tell him. Later.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy looked in the mirror and fixed his hair a little. He knew it was just going to be his friends there, but it was still technically a party, and he was still nervous about it. Michael was going to be there, and Jeremy had been distant all day.

 

He could tell that Michael had noticed, and it was making everything more awkward and stilted. Jeremy was just digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole. He took a deep breath and went downstairs, tugging at the edges of his cardigan.

 

"Dad?" He asked, heading into the kitchen. "I'm going over to Rich's to hang out with my friends."

 

His dad turned from the microwave, where a frozen dinner was cooking. He nodded, and Jeremy turned to walk away.

 

"Wait." Jeremy turned and looked expectantly at his dad. "I can't let you leave just yet, we need to have an awkward parent talk."

 

Jeremy groaned, but went to sit on a stool next to his dad anyways.

 

"Why? There's nothing to talk about." He complained, checking his phone for the time.

 

"I think there is." His dad said, sitting down. "You seemed off today, is everything alright?"

 

Jeremy froze, phone still in hand, and he blew out a breath.

 

"Yeah, yup. Everything's totally cool." He laughed awkwardly.

 

"Jeremy, buddy, come on. Are you really not going to tell me?" Mr. Heere pleaded, but Jeremy kept his gaze firmly down at the table.

 

"Tell you what?" He muttered stubbornly.

 

"Fine." His dad sighed. "Just tell me: are you safe? Can you handle it?"

 

Jeremy looked up, seeing the genuine worry on his father's face, and gave him a reassuring smile.

 

"Yeah, dad. I'll be fine. I'll let you know the second I can't handle it, kay?"

 

They both smiled and shared a moment before Jeremy glanced at the time again and swore. He was gonna be late if he didn't leave immediately. He wished his dad goodbye and was out the door within the next minute.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The party was going pretty well. Rich and Jenna were in a heated debate about something. Chloe, Brooke, and Christine were playing a game of cards, though Chloe could probably see Brooke's cards because she was leaning on her. Jake and Jeremy sat off to the side, happily watching everything. Every now and then, one of them would give a comment to the debate or the game, but neither was in the mood to fully involve themselves. Michael was sprawled on the couch listening to music playing out loud from his phone.

 

Then, he shot up and grinned, turning up the volume on his phone.

 

"I love this song!" He said as Hey Ya by OutKast began playing. He started dancing along to the beat, and the others chuckled. He moved over and offered his hand to Jeremy, who stared back up at him, hesitating.

 

He bit back the hurt that shot through him, instead turning to Jake, who laughed and graciously took his hand. Michael's grin returned as he pulled his friend up, and they moved to the song. They were both awful, and they accepted that, shamelessly shaking their bodies to the music.

 

Chloe stood and pulled Brooke along with her, and they started dancing as well. Christine swayed in her seat, smiling affectionately at her friends. Rich and Jenna watched them all dancing, and Jenna jokingly pulled Rich up. Jeremy remained on the floor, tense.

 

Michael looked at all their friends dancing and snickered, leaning into Jake and whispering "Ain't nobody more lit than the Unrequited Love Club. We reign supreme." Jake laughed and pushed him away playfully, glancing around.

 

Rich was shooting them another knowing look (ugh), and Jeremy stared at them as well. He looked so unhappy, and Jake started doubting their club title. Whatever, now was not the time to be worried. He turned back to Michael, who'd starting mouthing along to the song. Everyone joined in and danced happily. When the music finally faded out, they collapsed to the ground and laughed, enjoying the pleasant and pure moment.

 

Jake looked up and saw Rich pulling Jeremy out into the hall, instantly remembering his problems. He had to tell Michael, but he just looked so happy, and he'd seemed so sad earlier. Maybe he could wait one more day? Michael watched Jeremy walk out the door with the same look he knew he gave Rich, only he had no idea what was going to happen.

 

God, they were both screwed.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy gave Rich an exasperated look as his friend dragged him away from the others. This was the second time in two days, and the first one was not the best conversation Jeremy had ever had.

 

"What is it?" He asked expectantly.

 

"Dude! I got a confession." Rich shook his shoulder urgently.

 

Jeremy's nose scrunched up in confusion and Rich groaned.

 

"Jesus, you make that face way too often. How do you even _survive_? From Jake, man. He's dating Michael!"

 

Jeremy's face went blank so fast that it scared Rich a little bit. Then he started to look distressed and incredibly hurt, and Rich felt kind of bad for telling him. What if they had wanted it to be a secret?

 

"Why didn't he tell me?" Jeremy whispered. "Oh god, I feel like I'm going to be sick."

 

Rich patted his shoulder comfortingly.

 

"Hey, at least we know now. We should be happy for them, right?" He was being a hypocrite, because he wasn't thrilled at the news, but whatever.

 

Jeremy hesitated before looking up, eyes slightly wet. Rich panicked.

 

"Can you keep a secret?" Jeremy whispered, Rich straining to hear.

 

Rich nodded quickly and leaned in to hear better.

 

"I'm in love with my best friend." Jeremy screwed his eyes shut. It was the first time he had said it out loud. Rich let out a long breath and slumped his shoulders.

 

"Shit. Me, too."

 

God, they were both screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so. I know what I'm planning to do for the third chapter, I just need to write it. I have trouble with motivation, so I'm not going to fully promise anything, but my goal is to have it up before Friday.
> 
> Again, feedback or ideas are welcome. I already have a rough idea of where this is going, but if there's something you want to see, lemme know. 
> 
> Comments are always appreciated! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter.


	3. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit goes down.
> 
> Michael finds out in a bad way.
> 
> Jake tries desperately for things to be okay.
> 
> They're not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow!! Over 2,500 words! This story really interests me, I guess. I hope you guys like the new chapter!

The next day, everything felt like it was going back to normal. Or, at least, as normal as it would get. Still, Michael couldn't help but expect something bad to occur. It all felt like the calm before the storm. Jeremy seemed more casual again (he was trying hard after Rich and he agreed to get their shit together, but Michael didn't need to know that). Michael could still tell that there was something wrong, and Jeremy was kind of tense, but he kept changing the subject every time it came up. Honestly, he was just glad to have his friend back.

 

When he leaned into Jeremy, his friend leaned back again, so Michael ignored how his face flushed. Michael hoped that this was going to last more than just one day. So far, it had lasted half of the school day, and he hoped nothing would happen to change it.

 

He ranted on to Jeremy about a new game that was coming out, getting a small smile in return. Yeah, he may not know exactly what was happening with his best friend, but he knew they'd be able to get past it. No matter what it was, he'd be there for Jeremy, and he made sure the other knew that.

 

They grinned at each other as they walked down the hall, about to meet up with Rich and Jake to head for lunch.

 

 _This is a pretty good day._ Michael thought, smiling to himself.

 

Unfortunately, he was not at all prepared for what happened as they approached the other two.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, you excited to see your boyfriend for lunch?" Rich winked, nudging Jake as they stood by their lockers waiting for the other two.

 

"Well, we see each other every day," Jake chuckled awkwardly. "But, yeah... totally."

 

Rich eyed him with a pensive look on his face.

 

"What's wrong?" He asked.

 

"What?" Jake tried to hide the panic in his voice, covering it with nonchalance. "What do you mean?"

 

"Why do you seem so nervous? Aren't you and Michael happy together?"

 

Jake spluttered, face reddening. Shit. What if Rich saw through his lie? He was so screwed.

 

"Yeah, we are! It's just that... we haven't talked about being out at school, so. You know."

 

"Oh." Rich looked a little surprised at this, but playfully nudged Jake anyways. "Well, whatever happens, we'll all be here for you. If anyone even looks at you wrong, they'll feel our wrath."

 

Jake smiled at him, but felt fear welling up as he saw Jeremy and Michael approach. He hadn't actually gotten around to telling Michael about their predicament. He knows he should have, but he couldn't get Michael alone. Also, he really didn't want Michael to be mad at him.

 

He needed Michael to play along, but he couldn't tell him with the other two standing right there. On the other hand, Jake was really bad at thinking under pressure. He became incredibly impulsive, as shown by how he got himself into this predicament in the first place.

 

Think, think, think, think! The pair was getting closer, and Jake tried desperately to send telepathic messages to the hoodie-clad one. Disappointingly, he seemed to have no success.

 

Michael grinned at them like it was no big deal, which was bad, right? He was supposed to greet Jake differently, because they were dating. Right? Jake suddenly couldn't remember how dating worked. He didn't know what would tip the others off about what was wrong, and that stressed him out to an absurd degree. It wasn't even only that he didn't want Rich to know how he felt about him anymore, now he was in too deep. If they knew he'd lied about it, he'd look absolutely ridiculous and weird and they'd stop being friends with him.

 

Michael opened his mouth to greet them and Jake clenched his fists as he made another stupidly impulsive decision.

 

"Hey, Rich, hey Ja-"

 

His voice was cut off as Jake lunged forward, grabbing his hood and kissing him.

 

Michael's entire body stiffened in shock, and he automatically released a squeak of surprise.

 

It took about five seconds for Jake to realize what he was doing outside of his bubble of panic, and he pulled away quickly, staring desperately into Michael's eyes as he put on the most casual demeanor he could muster.

 

"Hey, babe, what's up?"

 

Michael swallowed, eyes fixed on Jake for a minute before darting around to the other two and the surrounding hall.

 

And Jake thanked any higher being that could possibly exist for the gift that was Michael Mell, because despite his immense confusion and discomfort, _he played along_.

 

Michael slipped a small smile onto his face as he forced his body to relax. Jake looked really upset, and he knew he was into Rich, so there must have been a reason for this. He'd deal with his own issues with it later.

 

"Ah, you know, the usual. How're you... babe?"

 

Jake grinned in relief, but bit his tongue as he saw the other two. Rich was slightly red and looking resolutely at Jeremy, who was engaged in a staring contest with the floor. Jake narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what was happening with those two. He hoped they hadn't noticed Michael's resistance.

 

Michael seemed to have the same thought, because he decided to continue talking.

 

"Sorry, you kind of took me by surprise there. I thought," Michael hesitated, which luckily came off as embarrassment but was actually him trying to form an excuse. "I thought you didn't want to be out with me at school."

 

Jake nodded along, frowning slightly as Jeremy glanced up to glare at him for this. He knew Michael was just trying to explain his surprise, but now Jeremy probably thought he was ashamed to be seen together with him.

 

"Alright!" Rich said loudly. "Let's get to lunch, I am famished!"

 

The four of them walked to the cafeteria together. Rich speed-walking in front, Jeremy shuffling behind him, and Michael lagging behind to shoot Jake a 'what the actual hell' face.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lunch itself was weird. For one thing, Jeremy was going to go sit in his usual seat, but stopped as Rich gave him a look, instead moving to sit next to Christine so that Jake could sit next to his 'boyfriend'. Michael looked upset for a moment before sitting down next to Jake.

 

No one was acting the same. Michael joked around as usual, but Jake could see an underlying tension in the way he held himself. Rich was overly enthusiastic, acting like he'd taken fifty red bulls and being so happy it seemed fake. Jeremy picked at his food, mostly staring down but looking up every now and then to shoot Michael small smiles whenever he talked to him. Jake himself sat in silence and observed how he'd somehow apparently messed up the lives of half his friend group. He knew how he'd messed up with Michael, and he had an idea why Jeremy was upset, but Rich was a mystery to him. He couldn't possibly have a crush on Michael, could he? The thought made Jake frown at the food in front of him.

 

"Alright." Chloe's commanding voice stopped all the boys, making them look at her. "We've been trying to leave whatever's happening to you guys, but clearly, you can't handle it. You've all been weird for like, the past week. Spill."

 

The four girls all look expectantly back at them. To Jake's immediate dismay, all three boys looked at him, leading the girls to do the same.

 

"Um." He cleared his throat and stared back at his friends. "Michael and I are dating now."

 

Michael's face settled into a frown, but no one else seemed to notice. Rich patted him a little too hard on the back in support, Jeremy looked down again, and the girls processed the new information.

 

"What?! When did this happen?!" Jenna shouted, whipping out a little notepad and her phone.

 

"Well, this was unexpected." Chloe said lowly, suspiciously looking at the supposedly happy new couple.

 

"Does this mean you lose the bet?" Brooke whispered to her, quickly being shushed.

 

"We will discuss that later." Chloe whispered back, motioning to the others still sitting there.

 

"Oh. I'm happy for you guys! I can't say I saw it coming, but you two make a cute couple!" Christine assured, though she had a confused look on her face. It turned a little more sympathetic as she took in Jeremy's demeanor.

 

The conversation soon shifted to something else, and lunch eventually passed. As they all got up to leave, Michael shot Jake a look that he couldn't understand, and he shrugged back at him. Michael furrowed his eyebrows in frustration, turning and walking off to his next class.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake was a little late to meet with the others at the end of the day, because he'd stayed behind in his last class to ask the teacher a question. He approached Michael's car, which the others were all leaning or sitting on. He opened his mouth to say something, but Michael surged forward, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the others wordlessly.

 

As they disappeared back into the emptying building, Chloe smirked.

 

"Ooooh, I wonder what they're gonna do." She joked.

 

"On school campus? Scandalous." Brooke joined in, chuckling lightly.

 

Jenna began typing furiously on her phone. Rich and Jeremy shared a look. They both knew their friends were kidding and that Michael and Jake would never do that at school, but it still hurt to hear it said. Rich clenched his jaw and looked away, and Jeremy wondered what Michael was planning on actually doing. Even if they weren't going to hang out today, Michael was his ride home, so he'd have to wait it out.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake tugged to get his arm back as Michael shoved him into a now empty classroom, whirling around to face him.

 

Jake pressed his lips together and stared at him. He knew what this was about, he wasn't an idiot. He just didn't know where to start.

 

"Well?" Michael asked, raising one eyebrow.

 

"Well." Jake responded eloquently.

 

"What the hell was that?!" Michael cried, reaching an arm forward to shove Jake.

 

"Oh yeah, that." Jake rubbed his neck nervously. "So, Rich started questioning me about crushes, and I got scared that he was onto me, and I panicked, so I... IsaidIwasdatingyouandhewasn'tsurprised."

 

Michael bit his lip as he processed this, before his face scrunched in confusion.

 

"He wasn't surprised?"

 

"No, and he said 'wait til Jeremy hears about this', like they'd discussed it before. Also, I'm pretty sure he told Jeremy at the party."

 

"Jeremy knows?" Michael deflated a little, before hitting himself on the head. "Oh, shit, he was there for the kiss, of course he knows! Gah, I'm such an idiot!"

 

"So..." Jake started cautiously. "You're not mad?"

 

Michael sighed heavily, anxiously running a hand through his hair.

 

"Yeah, dude. Of course I'm mad. But I know what it's like to be scared about your feelings, and I get that you didn't mean for this to happen, so I'll get to being okay eventually, after we form a game plan."

 

"Oh, good." Jake smiled in relief, glad he hadn't fully messed up this friendship.

 

"I guess I'm just upset my first kiss went like this and not... you know, with a certain someone else." Michael admitted sadly, letting his hand fall to his side from where it had been resting on his head.

 

Jake's mouth opened in surprise and both his eyebrows went up.

 

"That was your first kiss?" 

 

"Well, yeah." Michael said in a 'duh' tone of voice. "Look at me. People aren't exactly lining up to get with this."

 

"I-I'm sorry." Jake muttered, guilt flooding through his body.

 

It was silent for a moment, before being broken by the ping of their phones. They both pulled out their devices to see notifications of texts and tweets being sent around. About them. Jenna had apparently already gotten down to business. The whole school would know of popular Jake Dillinger's newfound relationship with headphones kid Michael Mell within the next few minutes. Michael's face fell even further and Jake scrabbled to make it better.

 

"Hey," He said, desperately looking for a bright side. "At least people think you're with me."

 

"What?" Michael said in confusion as he looked up from his phone.

 

"I-I just mean, you know, that I'm popular." Jake explained. "So, you'll become more well known in school and like, rise in the ranks and stuff. People will think of you as less of a loser."

 

And shit, that hadn't come out right. Michael went pale and his face was blank, making it clear he had somehow hit a little too close to home. Jake mentally kicked himself. Was there anything he hadn't screwed up? He was like a tornado, just destroying everything in his path.

 

"Move." Michael said quietly, pulling his hood up and trying to shove past Jake.

 

"Or you'll what?" He automatically shot back.

 

Wrong answer. Michael's face crumbled and his voice shook as he spoke.

 

"Get out of my way..." He hesitated for a moment. "Jake."

 

With that, he successfully pushed a shell-shocked Jake to the side with a hard shove, hurrying down the hall and hiding his face.

 

Michael walked as fast as he could, barely restraining himself from just sprinting home. At this rate, he would be lucky to make it there without a panic attack.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ugh, what's taking so long?" Chloe whined as she checked her phone again.

 

"Do you think they're okay?" Christine asked, considering going to find them.

 

Just then, Michael burst through the door, hood pulled up and face completely blocked.

 

"Michael! What's wrong?" Jeremy asked, worry lacing his voice.

 

Michael just tossed him the keys to the PT cruiser, not looking up or stopping.

 

"Drive yourself home, I'll pick it up later. I need to be alone right now."

 

His voice was quiet and low, and the others all shared a look of concern. Rich opened his mouth to ask about Jake, but promptly shut it when said boy hurried outside.

 

"Michael, you know I didn't mean that! I'm sorry, okay?" He sounded vaguely defensive, but desperation and fear were written all over his face.

 

Michael didn't see that, nor did he care. He ignored him and kept going, picking up his speed and finally passing the others.

 

"Michael!" Jake shouted, running over and grabbing his arm. Michael stopped dead in his tracks, freezing. He took a slow and deep breath in.

 

"Let go of my arm." His voice was low and dangerous, but the slight waver gave away his vulnerability.

 

"No. We're not done talking, I'm sorry." Jake said stubbornly, holding on tighter.

 

"Don't touch me!" Michael said angrily, yanking his arm back in an unsuccessful attempt to make Jake let go.

 

"Please." His voice broke and was weak as he looked over his shoulder, and everyone froze at the tears that rolled down his face.

 

Michael took this moment to break free of Jake's grip, turning and sprinting away, leaving them all behind.

 

Everyone was completely silent as Jake looked down at his now empty hand. He thought about the past month, how his parents had been gone again, and how he'd felt hopeless about his feelings for Rich. He thought about how Michael had helped him, and how they'd confided in each other. And he thought about his now empty hand, and the tears on his friend's face. He felt what he hadn't felt since starting this new friendship.

 

Completely, painfully...

 

Alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, did anyone order a bunch of angst? No? Well, that's too bad, because there's more where that came from! I love these characters so much, why must I hurt them?
> 
> The next chapter is mostly the aftermath directly after this one, so buckle up kiddos.
> 
> Again, I hope you liked the chapter, and please comment! I need validation and feedback!
> 
> Edit: To anyone who sees these chapters soon after they come up: I'm sorry. AO3 keeps adding in random symbols it doesn't show when I'm originally editing, like little question marks in diamonds, so I keep having to go back and fix every single one.


	4. Not Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> o shit
> 
> Also: random flashback time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey I suggest u listen to the song while they're singing it during the flashback
> 
> thanks

Jake was pushed out of his thoughts as he lurched forward unexpectedly. After regaining his footing, he turned to see that he had been shoved harshly by a furious-looking Jeremy. He had never seen the kid look so upset, and he was honestly kind of intimidated. Jake had never expected such an awkward beanpole to be capable of looking even the slightest bit threatening, but here he was.

 

"What the hell did you do?!" He demanded angrily.

 

"I didn't do anything!" Jake retorted defensively.

 

"I dunno, dude... that looked pretty suspicious." Rich admitted slowly after a pause.

 

"Look man, he was just overreacting, okay? Why does everyone assume I'm always in the wrong?!" He was getting too worked up, and he knew that. They assumed he was in the wrong because recently, he had always been in the wrong. Nothing he did ever worked out.

 

"Jake, I'm serious. What. Did. You. Do. To. Michael." Jeremy looked like he was about to explode, and Jake realized he was probably not the only one who was overloading on emotions right now.

 

 _"I don't know, okay?!_ I fucked up, bad. I've _been_ fucking up, this whole goddamn time, and I've been dragging him with me, and I've been dealing with it all by myself! And I'm tired of it! I'm tired of feeling stressed, and scared, and like such a fucking screw-up, okay?!" His voice became suddenly weary where it had been loud and angry as he dragged a hand over his face. "God, I'm so tired."

 

Jeremy's face softened a little, but he still looked way too angry to let it go.

 

"Why was Michael crying?" Christine asked quietly, more put together than anyone else there.

 

"Why do you think, Christine? Because of me. Because I messed up again. I hurt him, and you know what? I don't care right now. I'm done. I'm just done. He can deal with that himself. For once, I've got to deal with my own stuff first."

 

Jake knew he was being a dick, but he honestly couldn't stop himself. He'd been so wildly stressed the past few days, thinking about how everyone else was going to act. The only break he'd had was when he'd been dancing at the party, but that was with Michael, who he'd somehow just upset to the point of tears, which spoiled the memory. This just fueled Jake, and even though his anger was towards himself, his friends were in the line of fire.

 

Jeremy's anger returned tenfold as Jake dismissed Michael's emotions like that. Why was Jake acting like this?

 

"You don't deserve Michael." He spat venomously, and Jake laughed mirthlessly.

 

"Oh, like I give a shit."

 

With that, Jeremy pulled his arm back, and punched Jake in the face. As Jake stumbled back and his hands shot to his face, Rich hurried forward to grab Jeremy.

 

"Guys, this is getting really out of hand. I think... I think we should go." Brooke said, sounding frightened as she took Chloe's hand and pulled her away.

 

Jenna looked down at her phone, where she'd completely stopped typing, and slipped it into her pocket.

 

"I..." she started, biting her cheek. "I'm sorry."

 

With that, she grabbed Christine and hurried off as well. The three others watched their friends leave, and Jeremy forcefully pulled away from Rich's grasp.

 

"Whatever." He muttered, eyes dark and hardened in anger. "Have fun with this asshole, Rich. I've got a best friend to find."

 

He unlocked the PT cruiser and ungracefully threw himself in. He paused for a moment at just how _Michael_ it felt, complete with the leftovers of a now warm slushie in the cup holder. Pressing his lips together, he slammed the door closed behind him and turned the engine on.

 

Rich and Jake wordlessly watched as Jeremy peeled out of the parking lot.

 

It was silent. Neither of them knew what to say. Everything he had said and done was weighing down on Jake, and Rich watched him, desperately wishing he knew how to help.

 

"Jake..." Rich said after a moment, reaching a hand out to Jake's shoulder.

 

Jake jolted, snapping out of his thoughts.

 

"I gotta go." He mumbled quietly, shrugging Rich's hand off and jogging over to his own car.

 

As his car disappeared from sight, Rich sighed, wondering how the day had gone so wrong. He had no idea where he was supposed to go from here.

 

So there he stood, alone in the parking lot.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake slumped against his door as he entered his house. He took in a deep and shaky breath, and willed himself not to cry. He looked around at his beautiful home. So pristine, with it's fancy white stairs and dining table and all that. It should by all means be enough for him, but it wasn't. It was cold, and it was empty. And it was his, and his alone, for he was usually the only one in it. Sometimes he turned on a TV in one room and pretended it was his parents, or convinced himself he heard his dad cooking dinner downstairs. Jake kept trying to tell himself it was enough, that it had to be enough, but suddenly, he realized that it had never even come close.

 

He sunk to the ground and let out a sob, burying his face in his knees. He winced as he felt the bruise that had begun to form where Jeremy's fist connected with his face. He sobbed harder as he remembered this. He had absolutely deserved that. He acted like such a jerk, and after he'd hurt one of his closest friends, too. He was just so freaking tired. The past week had been hell.

 

He hated himself. Everything that had happened was his fault. All of it. God, he was the worst. No wonder his parents hadn't even called. They missed his birthday a few weeks ago, and what had hurt the most was that he hadn't been surprised. The real question was why his friends put up with him at all. Why did Rich ever put up with him? He only ever made stupid jokes and followed along with others. It's not like anything he ever said actually mattered.

 

Ugh, he was such a burden on everyone else. He had demolished his friends in the span of five days, and for what? His own gain? He hadn't even helped himself at all, except maybe stopped Rich from thinking he had a crush on him. Like Rich would ever think that now. If Jake had any sort of chance before, it was surely gone now. Just another thing on the long list of what Jake had ruined.

 

His self-deprecating thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He stopped mid-sob, holding his breath in the hopes that they hadn't heard him. He was still leaning against the door, but if he was quiet, maybe they'd leave.

 

"Jake?" came Rich's tentative voice. Huh. He must have decided to follow him for some reason.

 

"Jake, I know you're in there." He tried again, and Jake buried his face in his knees once more. Maybe he came to yell at him.

 

"No, I'm not." He called back weakly. "Go away."

 

He heard a sigh, then some noises of moving around followed by a key entering the lock. He sprung away from the door just as it swung open.

 

"I learned where your spare key was two years ago, dude." He chuckled awkwardly. Oh, yeah.

 

They stared at each other for a moment, before Rich straightened up.

 

"Oh! Uh," He swung his bag around and pulled something out. "I-I stopped by my house, I thought you might need this, so..."

 

An ice pack. He neared Jake, who flinched a little, but let him slowly apply the cool bag to his bruise.

 

"Are you okay?" Rich asked softly, even though they both knew the answer.

 

Jake mulled it over, and he held back more tears. He was so done with all of this lying, and he wasn't going to put up with it anymore. Least of all to Rich, who he clearly didn't deserve, but was for some reason sticking by him. So, was he okay? Honestly?

 

"No."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael had barely slowed down until he reached his destination, curling into himself and struggling to control his breathing. There was a patch of woods near his house, and he used to always go there when he'd panic like this. There was a big tree in the middle, with lots of branches and pretty green leaves. He'd climbed up it just like he did when he was younger, and he could almost see all the younger versions of him sitting on the same high branch where he sat now. It was nice and curved at the end, so he could lean along the bend and put his feet on the trunk of the tree.

 

Sometimes he'd go and just look around, because it was oddly calming to be surrounded by the same shades of brown and green, and the occasional rabbit passing by.

 

Jeremy never knew about this hiding spot. Yeah, Jeremy had seen him through a decent number of panic attacks or when he got overwhelmed, but sometimes Michael had to be alone. Sometimes he was upset about Jeremy, or he didn't want to bother his friend. Sometimes it was just a matter that by the time he thought to call Jeremy, he'd be able to pass the climax of the anxiety before he arrived. When he needed time to relax or be alone, he came here, and it worked. Most of the time.

 

He tugged at his hair and tried to steady himself. Deep breaths. In. One, two, three, four, five. Out. One, two, three, four, five. His breathing was still shaky and he cursed all the tactics that never seemed to work.

 

"Michael!" A voice called out, and he stopped.

 

Jeremy was nearby. He couldn't know about the tree, but he might have been smart enough to check the woods. If he looked up, Michael was done for.

 

He closed his mouth and attempted to breath only through his nose. It was kind of painful because his body kept trying to hyperventilate, but it was also a little quieter, so he forced himself to keep it up. Michael slid his body down into a more horizontal position, making his knees hit the trunk as his feet slid down to the crook where the branch met the rest of the tree. He hoped this new angle would cause the tree to block him from a ground level line of sight.

 

He heard footsteps crunch closer to him and he screwed his eyes shut, trying to hold his breath and stay perfectly still for once in his life.

 

"Michael?" Jeremy's voice came again, tentative and desperate. For a moment, Michael's heart stopped, thinking he'd been found, but the low distressed whine that followed the call made it clear that the other had no idea that he was there.

 

He had the passing thought that he had worn a brown shirt under his hoodie, and he would be more inconspicuous if he took the sweater off, but he dismissed it rather fast. If he was struggling now, it'd be even worse without the comfort of the familiar red hoodie surrounding him.

 

The footsteps shifted around a little before finally fading off into the distance, and Michael's body went slack against the tree. He let out a shaky breath and tried to focus on the blue of the sky against the upper branches instead of his own overwhelming thoughts.

 

He didn't know why he was so desperate to not be seen by Jeremy. Maybe he needed time to breathe. Maybe he didn't want to be seen like this. It was probably because he would only make it worse.

 

_Loser. Loser. Loser._

Jeremy's voice kept playing over and over in his head. The word hadn't bothered him that much before, because he hadn't paid much attention to it. But now he knew even his best friend thought he was a loser, and it was like a knife to the gut. Being pushed aside by the one person that chose to tolerate you was not easy, and it was all he could think about, despite all the times he'd called it 'water under the bridge'.  He'd honestly thought he was over it. Okay, maybe not really, but that he'd suppressed it enough to not have to worry about it for a while.

 

But, well. Damn him. He let himself get closer to Jake for some reason, and he'd let himself trust the kids that had been making his life hell for years. Maybe he should have known. Once a loser, always a loser. Jake may have been his 'friend', but that didn't mean they were equals. It was stupid of him to have thought otherwise. He was a little ashamed of himself. Jake was cool, funny, charismatic, and popular. Michael was none of those things. He prided himself on his humor, but most of the time he'd only succeeded in making Jeremy laugh. Granted, Jeremy was usually his only audience, but there had to be a reason for that as well.

 

He could just go and fling himself off a building. That'd be a relatively fast death. If it was high enough. He started to wonder how high the building would have to be, and even began making a small list of buildings that could work, but he stopped himself. What was he thinking? He couldn't just jump off a building in the middle of the afternoon. Not only would that make a spectacle depending on the building, but his friends and family would be guilt-ridden. Jake would feel awful, and Jeremy would be eternally tortured that he hadn't found him in time, never knowing that he'd come so close.

 

He sniffled and brushed some tears away from his face, purposefully hitting his head against the branch. Allowing himself to take heaving breaths, he stared up at the sky and contemplated what the world would have been had Michael Mell never existed in the first place.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_*A Few Years Ago*_

_Two boys hurried ahead of their parents, looking around the decorated auditorium with awe. Michael and Jeremy's teacher had offered to give anyone in the class extra credit if they attended their middle school talent show, and they were never ones to turn down opportunity. Both Michael's moms had come, but Jeremy's mom was too busy, so it was just his dad._

_Jeremy took a pamphlet from the usher at the door and began skimming it as Michael wandered a little further off. Their parents looked around appreciatingly. The school cleaned up pretty nice. Jeremy's small smile dropped off and he paled._

_"_ _Michael. Michael. Michael." He called, sticking an arm out and flapping his hand in the direction of said boy, completely missing him due to the distance between them._

_"_ _What? What happened?" Michael grabbed his friend's arm from the air and used it to pull him closer, leaning over his shoulder to read the booklet._

_"_ _Oh." He said, monotone._

_"_ _What is it?" One of Michael's mothers asked._

_Jeremy couldn't seem to speak, so Michael looked up at her._

_"_ _Michael Mell and Jeremy Heere are performing last in the show tonight."_

_"_ _Oh!" Mr. Heere looked at his son, puzzled. "I didn't know you boys signed up for this."_

_"_ _We didn't." Jeremy seemed to find his voice, but it sounded small._

_The adults all took a second to process this, eyes widening as they took in the situation._

_"_ _Was it a mistake?" Michael's nanay asked, and he shook his head._

_"Not unless the teacher was expecting us to sing a 'Super Gay Duet' together." Mr. Heere frowned and took the pamphlet from his son's hands. Sure enough, that's what was written under 'Act'._

_"_ _I'll go talk to the person in charge of all this." He said seriously, but Michael stopped him._

_"_ _No. We're gonna do it." He nodded his head decisively._

_"_ _We are?" Jeremy squeaked._

_"_ _Yeah, we are. Dude, the Bro Duet! It'd be perfect!"[The Bro Duet ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukoclu-yOy4)was a song Jeremy had found online and showed to Michael as a joke, which backfired when it got stuck in both of their heads. Michael had it downloaded on his phone now, and they'd listened to it loads of times. It was a catchy tune, okay?_

_"_ _No. No, Michael, no way." Jeremy looked horrified and nauseated at the same time. Michael put his hands on his shoulders and looked him square in the eyes._

_"_ _Do you trust me?" He asked seriously, and Jeremy gaped at him, reminding him vaguely of a fish._

_"_ _Do you trust me?" He repeated a little more forcefully, and Jeremy nodded quickly. "It'll be fine, Jer. I swear it will. We're going to go up there, we're going to give them exactly what they asked for, we're going to have fun, and best of all, we're going to blow their frickin minds. Got it?"_

_Jeremy still looked kind of green, but he smiled just the slightest amount and nodded anyways. Their parents shared a look of 'Are we really letting them do this?' After a minute of silent conversation, they decided to let their kids handle the situation in their own way._

_Despite his show of determination, Michael's leg bounced anxiously the whole show, only slowing down when Jeremy reached over and placed a hand on top of his. When their names were finally called, Michael took a deep breath, looked over at Jeremy, and grinned._

_"_ _Let's do this." He whispered, and bounded over to the volunteer in charge of sound. He plugged his phone into the speaker and told the parent which song to play, then hurried to take his place next to Jeremy. He shot him a thumbs up, and Jeremy reciprocated a far less confident version of it. Looking out into the audience, he saw a shocked Dustin Kropp, and his earlier suspicions about him were confirmed. He was the one who'd signed them onto the show, probably thinking they'd be humiliated and wuss out. Michael grinned at him as the opening cords of the song played._

_"_ _Hey, dude." He tilted his head to Jeremy, who was a bright red._

_"_ _Yeah, bro?" Came the quiet response._

_"_ _I got something I need to take off my chest." He grabbed his chest dramatically as he said the line._

_"_ _You do?"_

_"_ _Hey, dude, we've been best friends, for a really long time now." He sang, waiting a moment for Jeremy's affirmation. "And there's something I need you to know. Remember that time we were surfing, and I almost drowned?"_

_Michael was getting into the theatrics, if just to distract himself from the audience, and Jeremy chuckled as he watched him._

_"_ _And you dragged me to the beach, and performed CPR? Well, no homo, but that's the day, I fell in love with you." He sang into the mic, losing himself in the beat like he always did. "No homo, but that's the day I knew you were mine. Looking into your eyes, made me realize... no homo, but your lips touching mine..." He leaned into the mic, dropping his voice almost to a whisper. "Changed my life."_

_"_ _Bro!" Jeremy cried, his small smile now genuine. "Are you saying what I think you're saying? Yeah dude, I totally get what you're saying."_

_"_ _You do?"_

 

_"_ _I've been wanting to tell you for so long."_

_"_ _You feel the same way, too?"_

_"Remember that time at Disney World, I ate that giant turkey leg, and I started choking, until you came along!" Jeremy was grinning as Michael belted out his part in the background. "No homo, but that's the day I fell in love with you."_

_"_ _We're so not gay!"_

_"No homo, but that's the day I knew we were right. Your body pressed into mine, somehow didn't cross the line."_

_"_ _Why would it have?" Michael laughed, throwing his hands in the air and shrugging._

_"_ _No homo, but that day... changed my life." Jeremy closed his eyes to make it more dramatic as the line faded out. Michael leaned over and slung an arm over his shoulders as they started singing together._

_"_ _The outside world might see us as gay, but bro, we swear we're not! We're just two bros chilling out, and I think you're really-"_

_"_ _Hot."_

_"_ _Awesome."_

_"_ _Wait what?"_

_"_ _What?"_

_"_ _Who?" Michael faked confusion and glanced around._

_"_ _Snuggling with you under the covers. No homo."_

_"_ _Spooning with you, just like we're lovers. No. Ho. Mo."_

_"_ _Our lips touch for a minute or two, but... no homo." Jeremy tilted his head as he sang happily._

_"_ _It's okay with me if it's okay with you!" Michael pointed towards him._

_"_ _It totally is!" Jeremy threw his arms up and Michael held back laughter in favor of finishing the song._

_"_ _No homo, but let's find an apartment together! No homo, let's save money by sharing a bed! Looking into your eyes, made me realize... I love you more than you could ever know, my brooooooo..."_

_"_ _No homo!" They both fist pumped the air as the song ended and people clapped. Michael threw himself at Jeremy laughing, and he kept an arm around him as he grabbed the mic again._

_"_ _That was for you, Dustin, you homophobic asshole!" He yelled, and dragged a giggling Jeremy off the stage before the teacher could lecture him._

_He hurried by the sound table, swiping his phone with a quick 'Yoink!' which set Jeremy off into giggles again right after he'd calmed himself. They marched up to their parents, who appeared for a moment like they didn't fully know how to react._

_"_ _Wow." Nanay said, looking impressed._

_"_ _I didn't know you two could sing like that." Agreed his other mom._

_"_ _I can't believe we did that." Jeremy breathed as his dad put a supportive hand on his shoulder and the high from the show starting wearing off. "Oh my god, I cannot believe we just did that. In front of everyone."_

_Michael put his hands on his shoulders again and turned to face him._

_"Hey. You know what? Yeah, we did that. We showed everyone that we weren't afraid to stand up. We're not going to be pushed around. Did we show Dustin Kropp that? Yes. Did we have a lot of fun? Yes. Are you incredibly lucky to have me because I'm the best person in the whole wide world?-"_

_"_ _Yes." Jeremy broke in, voice too fond to be part of Michael's joke._

_Michael blushed with a pleased smile. He put a hand up in between them._

_"_ _Player 1?" He said, waggling his fingers._

_"_ _Player 2." Jeremy responded, reaching up to clasp his hand tightly._

_"_ _Damn right." Michael grinned. "Life may be tough, but it's a two player game, so we've got each other's back."_

_"_ _Always." Jeremy affirmed._

_"_ _Alright, I'm proud of you for taking a stand and all that, but we will discuss you swearing in front of all your teachers later, Michael." His nanay warned, but it was lessened by the smile that still showed on her face._

_From a few rows away, a small boy with a prominent lisp stared. He sunk down in his seat so as not to be seen as he watched them intently. He wished he had a friendship like that. He wanted a best friend that would care about him, or anybody to even notice him. God, did he want that. He was almost at the point of pure desperation, just willing to try anything. He watched them for a little longer, and even from this distance, he could tell one thing for sure._

_That bond would last forever._

_\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Jeremy groaned and hit his head against the steering wheel. For some reason, as he stared at the car he'd known for years, a memory from middle school had popped up. Some stupid talent show they'd gone to. They'd been victims of bullying, but Michael stayed strong and turned it around. He didn't know why he thought of it, but now he had the song stuck in his head.

 

 _"I_ _love you more than you could ever know..."_ He sang half-heartedly, forehead still resting where he'd slammed it against the wheel.

 

How had he not realized then how he'd felt? Was he really that oblivious? If only he could find him now. Jeremy felt like he was going insane with worry. Who knows what could have happened to him? Jeremy had checked at his house, at 7/11, behind 7/11, at Spencer's, and even in the woodsy area near his house. He looked everywhere that he could think of, and he came up completely empty.

 

He could have gotten hit by a car, or wandered too far and got lost, or even kidnapped! God, where the hell was he?! Jeremy still felt the remnants of his anger towards Jake, and his knuckles pulsed a bit at the memory. That was the first time he'd punched someone, but he didn't regret it. Well, he kind of did, because he was sort of friends with Jake, but he hurt Michael, and Michael was more important. He saw Michael crying, and then had the nerve to say he didn't care about it.

 

Jeremy leaned back, grip tight on the steering wheel. He'd arrived at his own house after checking everywhere else multiple times, but he didn't think Michael hid there if he had really wanted to be alone.

 

Why hadn't he wanted Jeremy to help? He desperately wanted to comfort his friend, and know what was wrong so he could do something about it. Michael had helped him so much that it hurt to see him in pain like this. Why hadn't he trusted Jeremy? Was Jeremy just not good enough?

 

Hurt mixed with anger and worry, swirling together and infecting all his thoughts. He swung the front door to his house open. His backpack slipped off his shoulders the second he was in, and he turned and punched the wall as hard as he could.

 

"Jeremy?" He held his injured hand as he looked up to see his concerned father in the kitchen doorway.

 

"Dad?" He took in a shuddering breath as a tear slipped down his cheek.

 

"I can't handle it myself anymore."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh this was a pretty shitty chapter and I apologize for it.  
> I've had the Bro Duet stuck in my head and while I was waiting for something today, I kept thinking about it as boyf riends (especially bc George Salazar sings it) so I put it in even though it shouldn't be there. Oh well. \\('-')/
> 
> As always, comments are appreciated! I have a very vague idea of what the next chapters will be.
> 
> Please tell me what you thought!


	5. Glue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I had like the entire chapter almost done and I was happy with it, and suddenly the page refreshed and I lost EVERYTHING and this is the one time I was like "Oh, I won't put it in Word first, because the format gets weird when I transfer it" and wowsers I am upset at this and I'm sorry if the quality suffered due to my frustration at AO3 and attempts to imitate what it was before.  
> The main part I couldn't remember was Michael's so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ hope it doesn't suck, I guess.

It felt like hours had passed and Michael had not moved from his position on the sturdy branch. He stared unseeingly up at the sky and reflected over everything. He finally had himself more or less under control, and he took in shallow breaths.

 

Should he have seen this coming? Jake had been struggling since apparently before the party, and Michael was too caught up in Jeremy's weirdness to see it. Ugh. He pressed his palms into his eyes and groaned. Maybe he was just a shitty and unobservant friend. He overreacted today. He shouldn't have gotten so upset. Jake hadn't even meant it in a mean way. It was just a fact. Michael was being weak and sensitive for no reason, which honestly didn't help his case in the 'totally-not-a-loser' department.

 

It was stupid of him to have hoped his first kiss was with Jeremy anyways. The kid was straight, for god's sake. Why does he keep doing this to himself? He probably really worried everyone else, and oh god, they'd all seen his disgusting crying face. He must have come off as such a _freak_.

 

Well, time to face the music. He couldn't live in this tree forever, especially because he knew how Jeremy got. Not to mention he still has his car. Michael heaved a sigh as he started climbing down the branch.

 

As his feet gently touched the ground, he looked around. To be completely honest, he had no idea where he was going. He knew Jeremy's house was his final destination, but he wasn't really emotionally prepared to have the conversation Jeremy would probably instigate. This fact also stopped him from calling or texting, which made him feel bad, but he brushed it off.

 

He found himself walking, and decided to let his body go on automatic. When he finally stopped, he wasn't surprised to find himself in front of 7/11. He tugged on his hood and ducked his head in case of human interaction. Despite his current circumstances, the familiar walls and aisles made him feel better, and he smiled to himself a little. He drifted over to the slushie machine and watched his cup as all the colorful flavors mixed into a sort of murky brown with little streaks of rainbow. Michael felt an almost childish giddy rush at seeing it. He had slushies most days, but the thought of the comforting liquid sugar on a day like today felt like a ray of sunshine. The constant in his life, Michael's lord and savior, Mr. Slushie Machine. He laughed quietly to himself at that thought, and pushed aside the voice that told him just how sad it sounded.

 

Feeling a little more confident now, he walked over to the cashier to pay. As he reached into his pocket for his wallet, the cashier looked at him curiously.

 

"Where's that lanky kid that usually hangs around you?"

 

Michael froze and his good mood instantly disappeared. He'd temporarily forgotten what had happened. A small part of him still wanted to be mindlessly happy and tried to joke about getting lost in the slushie sauce, but it only made him feel worse. He mumbled something out and the cashier took the hint, accepting Michael's money and wishing him a good day. Michael repeated it back half-heartedly, grabbing his slushie and exiting the store. He sat down on the curb a few feet from the entrance, sipping his drink quietly.

 

He really was an idiot, wasn't he? He'd tried so hard to fit in with his new group of friends, and for a moment, he thought he did. He knew they accepted him and that they were willing to hang out with him, but he'd never be like them. It's like Jeremy and Jake said, he was just a loser. He wasn't one of them.

 

Jeremy though, he was one of them now. Jeremy fit in. Jeremy was well-liked and cool, and just so _Jeremy._ Michael's gut clenched in longing thinking about his unfortunate freaking crush. Curse him for making Michael feel like this. How dare he be so kind and cute? That's so rude and unfair of him, because that makes Michael want to be around him, when he shouldn't. Michael held him back, and Michael didn't think he fit in like Jeremy did. Everything was different. The others were probably just hanging around him for Jeremy's sake.

 

It was only a matter time before Jeremy realized this. That he could do so much better than Michael. They weren't little kids anymore. He didn't only have Michael. Jeremy didn't need him, whether Michael still needed him or not. The thought left a sour note in his mouth, and he looked at the remnants of his slushie with distaste. He didn't think he wanted it anymore.

 

He pushed himself onto his feet and threw what was left away, pushing his sadness down. It doesn't matter. It was time for him to do what he did best: cover it. Act like he was okay. Hide his wound from the others until it faded or he got used to the pain. So what if he was falling apart? Nothing a little glue and tape won't fix. May not be good in the long run, but it makes things easier for everyone else. That's it. He'll just glue himself back together like always. Michael put his hood down and started down the road he knew led to Jeremy's house.

 

He hoped the cracks didn't show.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rich seemed sort of taken aback by Jake's response. He had half expected him to attempt to cover it up again. It wouldn't work, but still. Rich was glad his friend was trusting him with this. He was also a little disappointed his friend hadn't trusted him with it earlier, but whatever. This wasn't about him.

 

He shifted so he was sitting right next to Jake, and wrapped his arm around him comfortingly. Jake found himself leaning into the touch and resting his head on Rich's shoulder. Neither of them wanted to move. It felt like they were the only things keeping each other together. Since Jake didn't say anything, Rich spoke up instead.

 

"So... what happened?"

 

Jake huffed out a breath. Where to start?

 

"My parents forgot my birthday last month." He said, because it wasn't the main issue but he could still stand to vent about it.

 

"What? I thought you said you skyped them."

 

"I lied. They were probably too busy. It must have been important, they didn't answer any of my calls." Jake looked down and bit his lip.

 

"More important than you?" Rich said, almost as if he couldn't imagine it.

 

"I guess so." Jake replied, picking at a loose thread in his jeans.

 

"Nothing could ever be more important than you, Jake. I swear." Rich hugged him tightly, and Jake fought back more tears. He'd wanted to hear someone say that so badly.

 

"Thank you." He choked out. They stayed like that for a little while before he spoke again.

 

"Michael got mad that I kissed him today in the hallway. Apparently it was his first."

 

"Oh. Isn't that what couples do, though? Kiss, I mean. Unless one of them is asexual, but-" Rich rambled, and Jake cut him off.

 

"No. Well, yeah, you should still ask first, but Michael and I aren't dating." Rich gasped at that.

 

"Oh my god, you broke up? Jake, I am so sorry!" Jake went to pull away but didn't get far as Rich's grip on him tightened. Rich paused in his Best Friend Consolation Duties.

 

"No, I mean... we were never dating." Rich's expression reminded Jake of a computer buffering. 404 Reaction Not Found.

 

"What?" He finally replied intelligently. "Why did you tell me you were?"

 

"I don't know!" Jake cried. "I panicked, okay? We weren't actually dating, and I didn't tell him, and then I kissed him in the middle of a crowded hallway! Like an idiot!"

 

He reached a hand up to pull harshly at his hair and Rich instinctually caught it to stop him despite not fully processing his words yet.

 

"Not to interrogate you or anything, but... why did you panic?" Jake bit hit lip and Rich rubbed supportive circles into his back, keeping him glued together. This was it. The moment of truth. He was about to risk his entire friendship, but he had to do it.

 

"I panicked because I didn't want you to know that I..." He hesitated and Rich squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I'm in love with you."

 

It felt like a weight had been lifted off of his chest at those words, and it was sort of freeing to finally just say it. The crushing feeling came crashing back as he tried to read Rich's expression. His eyes were darting around as if to check that this was real, and his free hand dropped to his thigh and pinched it hard. Jake was both confused and scared. Was that good or bad?

"Rich?" His voice seemed to break his friend out of his stupor, and, to Jake's increasing confusion, a grin starting to spread across his face.

 

"Oh, thank god." Rich said, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him in for a kiss.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy's dad was by his side in a second, hugging him supportively. Jeremy couldn't help but cry into his shirt, bunching the fabric up in his hands and feeling like a little kid again. When his sobs started to lessen, his dad gently pulled him over to the couch. He curled into a ball, hugging his knees and resting his head on them.

 

"Do you want to talk about it?" His dad asked, wrapping a soft blanket around his son's shoulders. Jeremy laughed sadly.

 

"Oh, god, where do I even begin? I've had a weird week, Dad."

 

"And we will sit here for as long as it takes for you to tell me, and I will try my best to help you." He nudged Jeremy affectionately. "Just try me."

 

There was one thing Jeremy needed to get out of the way first, but it intimidated him to say it.

 

"I-I... uh, I might not be totally straight." He stuttered. "Actually, I think I'm bisexual."

 

"Okay." Was the simple response. He continued at Jeremy's surprised look. "Oh, come on, kiddo. I don't care what your sexuality is as long as you're happy. I love you! You know that, don't you?"

 

"Yeah." Jeremy smiled gratefully at him. "Yeah, I do. I love you, too."

 

His dad smiled back and Jeremy took a short moment to sort his thoughts, collecting his courage to move on to the next part.

 

"Well, around a week ago, Jake was being weird except when Michael arrived, so Rich told me they were sleeping together. It made me feel all scrambled inside and I didn't know why, so I thought really hard about it and... I think... I think I might be in love with my best friend."

 

"Really?" Mr. Heere looked slightly surprised, but he was mostly pensive, like he should have seen it before.

 

"Yeah, he's just so nice and smart and I feel warm and gooey when he's around. He makes me a better person, and he makes me _want_ to be a better person, and I can't stop thinking about him, like, _ever,_ and it's actually starting to be a problem because- what?" His dad was looking at him fondly and laughing lightly.

 

"That sounds like love, alright." Jeremy flushed red and looked down. "Have you told him?"

 

"What?!" Jeremy jumped, looking at him in disbelief. "Are you crazy? Of course I haven't told him, I'm hoping to preserve our friendship. It doesn't matter anyways, because he's dating Jake."

 

His voice had gotten quieter and sadder at the end, and his dad patted his back sympathetically. He continued.

 

"Michael seemed pretty happy around him, so I was trying my best to be okay with it, but then today Jake started making out with him and I felt like I was going to vomit." He hugged his knees tighter. "Michael seemed kind of tense after that and said something about Jake not wanting to be seen with him. At the end of the day, Michael pulled Jake back inside to talk to him, and Chloe made a joke about them having sex, but then Michael came out and his hood was up, so I knew something was wrong. He gave me the keys to his car and said he needed to be alone, and then Jake came out and tried to get him to stay, but Michael was crying and sprinted off alone!"

 

Jeremy was working himself up into a frenzy, and his breathing became heavier as he worriedly looked at his dad. His eyes looked like they were willing him to understand. Jeremy didn't know what to do without Michael. He was always there to help when Jeremy felt upset. Even when he was breaking apart, he always seemed to be able to glue Jeremy back together. How is he supposed to stay in one piece without him?

 

"Hey, hey, Jeremy, it'll be okay." Jeremy's dad reassured, and he nodded and breathed deeply before continuing.

 

"Jake started being a jerk about it and spouted something about how he was messing up and how he didn't care that he'd hurt Michael. So I said he didn't deserve him, and Jake said he didn't care, so I punched him in the face."

 

"Woah, woah, woah. You punched someone in the face?" At Jeremy's quiet affirmation, he gave his son a disapproving look. "I thought this kid was your friend."

 

"He was being a jerk to Michael, and Michael's more important." Jeremy remained stubborn and his expression showed no regret, so Mr. Heere sighed and motioned for him to continue.

 

"After I left the school, I drove around and I looked everywhere but I couldn't find Michael, and I'm so worried about him! What if he got hit by a car or something? What if he got kidnapped? What if-"

 

"I'm sure Michael's fine, Jeremy. He probably just needed to be alone."

 

"Yeah, I guess so." Jeremy shrunk into himself again. "I just wish he had trusted me with this."

 

They sat for a bit as Mr. Heere comforted his son and Jeremy wiped his face. They were eventually interrupted by a weak knock and were reminded that they'd forgotten to fully close the door as it slowly swung open at the impact. There in the doorway stood a certain hoodie-clad Filipino teen looking sheepish and a little concerned, with his hand still raised from where he'd knocked.

 

"Hey."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! I think there'll only be one chapter left, or maybe two, but it's pretty close to finishing. As always, I hope you liked this chapter and I'm sorry if you didn't.
> 
> ALSO! I might be considering a long-ish (around 5000 words) single-chaptered fic of the whole ‘wait you didn’t know we were dating?’ trope where Michael’s so used Jeremy obliviously doing affectionate things and so used to pining but being like ‘oh but he’s straight’ that he doesn’t realize Jeremy thinks they’re dating.
> 
> Please comment if you liked it (I crave that sweet validation), or if you have input on my possible new writing venture after this. Thank you!


	6. I Don't Have A Title For This

As Rich pulled back, Jake's mind struggled to catch up to the situation.

 

"Well?" Rich said excitedly, still grinning ear to ear.

 

"Buh." Jake responded smartly, completely blindsided. Rich's smile faltered.

 

"You meant what you said... right?"

 

"No, no! I mean, yeah! I did, I just. Wow." He said, expression changing to match Rich's. "Does this mean you like me back?"

 

"No, I'm just an asshole who likes to mess with people's emotions." Rich scoffed sarcastically. "Yes, I like you back, Jake."

 

Jake couldn't believe it. Just an hour ago it had felt like his world was falling apart. How the hell had they ended up here? To be honest, Jake was just glad they had. And also absolutely, one hundred percent astonished. Rich liked him back? Since when? Why? How? _What?_

 

Still, looking at Rich's happy face staring back at him, those thoughts flew out of his head and he couldn't help but smile goofily back. This was basically what he'd been dreaming of for the past year, so hell if he was going to ruin it now.

 

"Rich." He fought hard to keep the smile off his face as he started, because he wanted to be serious about this goddamnit, but it was far too difficult given the current circumstances. "Would you like to go out with me?"

 

"Yeah, totally!" Rich beamed and bounced a little, before composing himself and trying to look chill. "I mean, sure, yeah, that'd be great."

 

Jake chuckled fondly and ruffled his hair. The pair grinned at each other, and Rich leaned in to kiss him again. As Jake pulled away, Rich froze, and Jake looked at him in confusion.

 

"What's wrong, babe?" He asked, concerned, and Rich blushed a little despite his expression not changing.

 

"What are we going to tell Michael?"

 

Huh.

 

That's a pretty good question, actually.

 

Jake feels like the world's biggest douchebag for getting caught up in this and being all happy after hurting Michael like that. He wouldn't be mad that Jake got with Rich, though, right?

 

"We weren't actually dating, I already told you that." Jake said carefully, hoping Michael wouldn't be too upset.

 

"Yeah, but he was still really upset, wasn't he?" Rich bit his lip, and Jake slumped his shoulders. He had a good point.

 

"I can just hear myself now." He groaned, then straightened up and puffed his chest a little in an exaggerated imitation of himself. "'Hey, Michael, I know I called you a loser and really hurt your feelings, but it's okay because it all worked out for me and now I have a boyfriend! Aren't you happy for me?' He would kill me, and he would one hundred percent have a right to."

 

"You called Michael a loser?" Rich's face scrunched up and Jake realized he never hold him that part.

 

"Yeah, and he took it really hard. I think it was somehow personal." Rich's face told him he knew something about how personal it really was. "Do you know why?"

 

"Mmmmmm." Rich pressed his lips together and furrowed his eyebrows. "It's really between them, Jeremy just kind of ranted to me in the hospital, and that word may have come up in a certain incident." Jake's face began twisting in guilt and Rich hurried to reassure him. "But you didn't know! So it's not totally your fault! I mean, you shouldn't go around calling our friends losers, but I know Michael will understand you didn't mean it."

 

"Speaking of Jeremy, I hope he found Michael." Jake stared at his hands, thinking about earlier.

 

"Yeah. Man, that boy is head-over-heels for him." His head shot up at Rich's comment and he stared at his boyfriend incredulously.

 

"How did you know about that?"

 

"How did I know about what? Wait, you knew Jeremy was into Michael?" Rich stared back with equal confusion, and Jake spluttered incoherently.

 

"What?! No, I knew that Michael had a crush on Jeremy! Wait, Jeremy likes him back? I _knew_ that kid wasn't straight."

 

It went silent for a minute before Rich burst out laughing. Jake joined in and starting laughing harder as Rich pitched forward and began snorting into his shirt, unable to control himself.

 

"Wait, wait, wait." Rich said in between breaths, still giggling hard. "You... you mean to tell me... that I liked you... and you liked me... and Jeremy liked Michael, who liked him back... and we've ALL BEEN COMPLETELY IGNORING IT?!"

 

"We are such idiots." Jake chuckled into his hair, wrapping his arms around him affectionately.

 

It felt peaceful, and Jake tried to view his options for the situation from a positive perspective for once.

 

Let's review what we know. Jeremy ran off to find Michael, and he took his car with him. Michael is really attached to the car, and Jeremy knows him extremely well. For all they knew, maybe Jeremy did find Michael. Either way, he was pretty sure Michael would go back to reclaim his car, so he was certain they would end up talking at some point or another today. Maybe they would work some of it out. Maybe one of them would finally admit their feelings and everything would be okay. In fact, maybe this whole incident would end up getting them together. Obviously, Jake wouldn't take credit for that, because he was only responsible for the bad parts and it was still not a good time, but it would be a nice twist on a negative situation. But, that would mean Michael would have to tell him about Jake, and Michael might not want to tell him if he thought Jake didn't want him to.

 

Rich let out a small noise of contentment that pulled Jake back to the current moment at hand. Hmm. Now didn't really seem like the time to worry about that. Things were finally good for once, and he was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

 

 _'_ _I'll talk to him tomorrow. Hopefully, he and Jeremy talked it out.'_ He assured himself.

 

He suggested watching a movie, and Rich went to get him a new ice pack for his bruise as he set up Netflix. When Rich came back with a frozen bag of peas, he tilted his head curiously.

 

"So, what are we going to do about Michael?" Rich asked, and Jake just let himself relax into the couch, shrugging calmly and smiling at his new boyfriend.

 

"Eh. We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy was off the couch in the blink of an eye, startling both Michael and Mr. Heere. He immediately lunged at his best friend and Michael's body lurched forward as he was pulled into a tight hug. Michael gratefully hugged back, glad to be getting this kind of affection, instead of skipping straight to the anger.

 

"Jer, I can't breathe." He wheezed, and Jeremy just squeezed tighter, like he was afraid of ever letting go. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and he shoved Michael away a moment later.

 

"Where the hell were you?! You scared the fricking crap out of me, dude!" Michael sagged and his face slipped. The anger rushed out of Jeremy faster than it had come, and he was so very concerned about his friend. "Are you okay?"

 

"Yeah, I'm fine." Michael plastered a smile on and kicked one foot across the ground to distract himself. "I stopped by 7/11 and got myself a slushie, which you know is like a health potion for me, so. Sorry if I worried you."

 

"Don't." Jeremy's forceful tone surprised him into looking up, and he was taken aback by how upset he looked. "Don't do that, Michael. Don't act like it's nothing, like it's okay. It's not okay. You're not okay. Why won't you tell me that?"

 

Michael opened his mouth to say something, but faltered as he registered movement in the background. Right. They were not alone. Mr. Heere stood up awkwardly, looking at them sympathetically.

 

"I'll be upstairs. I think you boys need to talk this out." On his way to the stairs, he pat Jeremy comfortingly, and the two shared a short look that Michael didn't quite get. Once he was gone, Jeremy turned back to him expectantly. Michael pursed his lips and tugged his hood down hesitantly, not wanting to look as stressed as he actually was. Jeremy knew he mostly only wore it up when he was upset.

 

"So I saw the PT cruiser outside, I'm glad you've treated her well." He said light-heartedly, shifting his weight. "Uh, I can just take the keys and go, I know you have homework."

 

"I'm not giving you the car keys, Michael." Jeremy's mouth was set in a thin straight line, and his expression was disconcertingly serious. He was really throwing a wrench in Michael's 'feelings? I don't know her' plan.

 

"What? Come on, man, I gotta get home somehow. You don't expect me to walk home, do you?"

 

"Why can't you just tell me what's wrong?" Jeremy cried in frustration, taking a step forward. "Please, Michael, I want to help you."

 

Michael bit his lip and looked down again. He couldn't tell Jeremy everything, could he? It wasn't really his to tell, it was Jake's. Wasn't it? He was the one to screw up in the first place, and he dragged Michael in where he shouldn't have, and it does involve Michael significantly even though he did nothing wrong, but...

 

Hold up.

 

Maybe it _was_ Michael's to tell. He sure as hell deserved to do what he wanted, didn't he? Wasn't he the victim here? He suddenly felt mad and frustrated at Jake, but also instantly felt guilty for feeling like that. Jake was going through a tough time, he knew that was true, but still. It didn't excuse everything he did.

 

In his moment of thinking, Michael had been deathly quiet, and Jeremy pulled back, hurt.

 

"Micah, seriously. You won't even tell me what happened? You can trust me, you know that, don't you?" Michael glanced back up at him and his brown eyes looked empty.

 

"Jake called me a loser." He said tonelessly, deciding it was safe middle ground between telling Jeremy what happened and the whole truth.

 

Jeremy looked confused for a second as he processed this, and Michael watched as his face slowly morphed into horror and guilt.

 

"Oh, god, Michael, I am so sorry about that, you know I didn't mean it, and-"

 

"It's fine. I've already forgiven you." Michael waved him off, but Jeremy wasn't super convinced.

 

"Where the hell does Jake get off calling you that anyways?" He said, opting to redirect his emotions somewhere other than Michael and himself. "He can be so self-centered sometimes, like his popularity and looks makes him all high and mighty or something."

 

"That's not true. He's just been under a lot of pressure." Michael said weakly, though he wasn't totally sure why he was bothering to defend him. Wasn't he supposed to be mad right now? Jeremy evidently thought the same thing.

 

"Why are you defending him? He's been an awful boyfriend, he doesn't even deserve you!"

 

"What are you even talking about?" Before this afternoon, Jake hadn't really done anything, had he?

 

"What am _I_ talking about? What are _you_ talking about?! You were tense all day after talking to him in the hall! You said yourself that he didn't like to be seen in public with you! What the hell is going on?!"

 

"That's, uh." Michael hesitated, weighing his options. "Between Jake and I."

 

Jeremy's communication skills dissolved into angry, incredulous spluttering, and if it had been any other situation at any other point in time, Michael probably would have found it hilarious.

 

"Jer, please. Let me take my goddamn car and leave." He leaned forward and reached for Jeremy's pocket, and the brunette jerked away like he'd been burned. "Don't make me hotwire it myself."

 

"I just don't fucking get it, Michael." He said harshly.

 

"Get what, Jeremy?" Michael was just so freaking tired of all of this mess. Maybe he should walk home after all.

 

"I don't get it, why the hell are you going out with that asshole?!" He shouted, and there was a certain layer of hurt that Michael didn't understand hidden in the question.

 

"Goddamnit, Jeremy, why do you even _care_?!"

 

"BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!"

 

Michael's eyes widened and he stumbled back in shock. Jeremy was trying to regain his breath from his scream, tears welling in his eyes again.

 

"Shit, shit, oh shit." Jeremy whispered to himself, curling into himself as much as he could while still standing and picking aggressively at the edges of his trademark cardigan.

 

"What did you say?" Michael said quietly, not believing what he had heard.

 

"I care because I'm in love with you, okay? Are you happy now?" Jeremy pulled his sleeve over his hand and rubbed his eyes with it, sounding heartbroken already.

 

Michael gave a breathless little laugh of disbelief, shrugging lightly.

 

"Yeah, kinda." Jeremy sniffled wetly, thoroughly puzzled by Michael's response.

 

"What?"

 

"Yeah, I'm happy." Michael repeated, a small smile gracing his features despite him still not fully believing what was happening. "I'm actually really fucking happy."

 

"What are you talking about?" Jeremy shrunk more into himself, assuming the worst. Was Michael making fun of him or something?

 

"Jesus, Jer, I've been in love with you since the 7th grade."

 

"Oh." Was Jeremy's response. He couldn't really process what he was saying, but he felt hope starting to bubble up in his chest, and his voice came out small and innocent when he spoke. "Really?"

 

"Yes, really. And you like me back?" Jeremy started nodding quickly, but stopped and frowned once more.

 

"What about Jake?"

 

"What about him?" Michael hadn't had time to get accustomed to the fake dating thing, and he had quite honestly forgotten how they had gotten into this mess.

 

"Um, you're dating someone else, Michael. Jake. What does this mean about you and Jake?" Jeremy said this kind of irritably, and Michael liked to think that it was jealousy.

 

Still, that was... wow. Good question. Things didn't magically get resolved because his feelings were reciprocated. Don't get him wrong, that's awesome, and he feels super happy and relieved about it, but there was still a whole thing with Jake to resolve. If he hadn't admitted anything to Rich, they'd have to keep pretending they were dating, or at least stage a breakup.

 

Jeremy saw his hesitance and deflated.

 

"You still have feelings for him." He said, more of a statement than a question. He looked away, swallowing hard and shuffling sadly. "I understand."

 

"No! No, god no. It's... Jake and I..." Michael took a deep breath and decided to just go for it. "Jake and I were never dating. I actually had no idea he had told people we were until he kissed me in the hall today, and that's why I was so tense in class."

 

"What?" That was not at all the explanation Jeremy had been expecting. He wasn't even sure what he had been expecting, but it sure as hell wasn't that.

 

"Jake panicked for... some reason, and told Rich that we were dating, and then he was too embarrassed to fix his mess. I pulled him aside to talk to him about it, but Jenna had already spread it to the rest of the school, and he said that it was a positive thing because people would think of me as less of a loser if I was dating a popular kid."

 

Michael didn't mean this in an angry way towards Jake, but more of a simple repetition of his day's events. Nonetheless, Jeremy got pissed.

 

"What?! What an asshole! I can't believe him, why would he do that? As if you need some popular kid to make you cool. You're like, the most amazing person on the planet, and he's a fucking jerk for taking advantage of you like that!"

 

"Hey." Michael took Jeremy's hand and relished the fact that he immediately became calmer. Not completely, but it was progress. "He was just scared, okay? I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it like that. Can we just move on from this? For my sake?"

 

"Okay." Jeremy grumbled, resolving to still tell Jake off later but let it go for now. "I'll let it go, for your sake."

 

Michael grinned and leaned in, pecking Jeremy on the lips, watching for his reaction cautiously. Jeremy beamed, and Michael took that as a really good sign.

 

"We can figure everything out tomorrow, okay?" Jeremy hummed happily in agreement, but his eyebrows furrowed a minute later.

 

"Wait. Was Jake your first kiss?"

 

"I would have told you if I had anyone else to kiss."

 

Jeremy frowned, and Michael leaned in again to kiss the pout off his face.

 

"I wish we had done this sooner, then I would have beaten him to it." He said petulantly.

 

"Tell ya what." Michael smirked, biting his lip. "I'll let you be my first for everything else."

 

Jeremy instantly flushed a deep red and Michael laughed happily. Somehow, this had turned out okay.

 

Everything else could wait.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was getting late, and Jake's eyes were closed as he rested his head on Rich's lap. Rich looked down at him, playing with his hair mindlessly.

 

"Hey, Jake?" Said boy hummed in acknowledgement. "So you told everyone you were dating Michael."

 

A noise of confirmation.

 

"But you lied."

 

Yet another 'mm-hmm' escaped Jake, and his half-asleep mind struggled to follow along to where Rich was going with this.

 

"And now you're dating me." Jake nodded his head a little, yawning. "So..."

 

"How the hell are we going to tell them?"

 

Jake's eyes flew open, all traces of sleep somehow dissipating.

 

"Fuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! New chapter! It took a while because I recently came back from a vacation, and the flights were long and the time zone different. Still, here it is! Also, the other fic I've been working on is done, but I need to do editing and change it to AO3 format, so it'll be up in a few hours. I hope you liked this chapter! As always, I am desperate for validation in the comments. :P


	7. Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, everything turns out ok.

As they drove to school the next day, neither one of them said anything. Michael stared forward and tried to focus on the road, and Jeremy bounced his leg anxiously. They still weren't 100% positive what the plan was, but Michael was determined to at least confront Jake. For once, things would get better. It was about goddamn time this issue was resolved.

 

The PT cruiser pulled to a stop in the parking lot, and Michael took a deep breath, trying to psych himself up for it. He wasn't usually one for big confrontations, but this had to be done. Jeremy must have noticed his nerves, because he reached for Michael's hand a second later.

 

"You don't have to do this today." He told him, but Michael shook his head immediately.

 

"No, uh-uh. I absolutely have to do this today. I'm not backing out now just so that I can go through the same thing tomorrow."

 

Jeremy still looked a little concerned, but he relaxed minutely when his boyfriend squeezed his hand reassuringly. Michael leaned against the headrest and let his head loll to the side as he looked at the other.

 

"Tell me it'll be okay, though. I wanna hear it." He said softly, and Jeremy leaned in for a small kiss.

 

"It'll be okay, Micah. I promise." Jeremy smiled sweetly, and Michael had to physically stop himself from swooning. Now was hardly the time for that.

  

He smiled at his boyf and kissed him one last time before pulling his hand away from Jeremy's. At his boyfriend's responding pout, he booped him affectionately on the nose.

 

"We can't do things like that in public until Jake and I have this all figured out. Don't forget the whole school thinks we're dating." He then busied himself with unbuckling his seatbelt and reaching into the back for his bag, but he didn't miss the way Jeremy frowned at his words.

 

They got out of the car and made their way to the building, both scanning the crowds for a certain pair of boys. Michael was the first to spot them whispering to each other next to Rich's locker.

 

"Jake!" He called, ignoring the anxiety gnawing at him.

 

Jake swung around quickly and stared at him, and Michael stared back. Rich looked slightly awkward, but also weirdly determined as he pat Jake's back reassuringly. Michael ignored this in favor of Jake's grimace, and he could practically feel Jeremy's glare next to him. He put a hand on his arm to show Jeremy he was still okay. He didn't miss how Jake's wide eyes followed the motion.

 

Quickly pulling his hand away, Michael began walking towards them with all the confidence he didn't have at the moment. As he stopped in front of his "boyfriend" Jake, he plastered on a strained smile.

 

"Hey, we need to talk."

 

A moment later, perhaps not unexpectedly, classmates started whispering to each other, watching them. The most common pastime at Middleborough High was listening to other people's business, and something big was always bound to follow the classic 'we need to talk'.

 

Jake nodded wordlessly, and he glanced down the hall, looking for someplace more private. Before they left, Jeremy gave Michael a supportive smile and a small thumbs up, trying to ease the boy's tension. Neither of them noticed Rich doing the same for Jake. The two boys walked off together, leaving Rich and Jeremy to awkwardly stare at each other and shuffle their feet.

 

It was going to be a long day.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright." Michael breathed as they slipped into the usually-abandoned E wing bathroom. "Let's get this feelings train going."

 

"Ok, so, first things first, I'm genuinely so incredibly sorry for what happened yesterday. And all the rest of it."

 

"Me, too." Michael says, then elaborates at Jake's expression. "I'm sorry I was so weird about all of it, and I kind of overreacted yesterday anyways."

 

"You didn't do anything wrong, though. Did you?"

 

"Well, clearly not as much as you did." Michael joked, but felt bad as Jake's face fell. "But it's okay! I mean, this has all just been some awful wacky misunderstanding, right? In a way, you're also a victim."

 

"Yeah, I guess so." Jake said, sounding a little unconvinced. "Hey, so you walked in with Jeremy though. Did he find you?" Michael scoffed lightly, but a faint pink dusted his cheeks.

 

"As if. I went to his house after... y'know. We had a whole big argument and both yelled a lot for no reason."

 

"Huh. But everything's fine now?" Jake watched Michael carefully, knowing there was more to the story.

 

:"Well..." Michael said, flushing brighter. "It kind of somehow led to him confessing his feelings for me? And now we're dating? It was weird, but a good kind of weird."

 

Jake grinned happily, and Michael found himself mirroring it.

 

"That's great! The same thing actually happened with Rich and I."

 

"Really?" Michael's jaw dropped, and he started laughing a moment later. "Jesus, we are such disasters. Guess the ULC is disbanded. How the hell are we going to explain all this to the entire school?"

 

"One second." Jake said, and he calmly strode over to the door. "You can come in."

 

Michael tilted his head in confusion, but to his surprise, the door opened and Rich walked in, dragging an embarrassed Jeremy behind him.

 

"We weren't listening in or anything!" Jeremy hurried to clarify, feeling ashamed at having been caught outside. "We just knew you'd come here and wanted to be... you know, supportive." 

 

Rich nodded emphatically, before scrutinizing the two.

 

"So, did you guys talk everything out? Everything cool now?"

 

Michael and Jake shared a look before turning back to the others.

 

"Not quite." Jake said slowly, rocking back on his heels.

 

"One last thing we need to clear up." Michael agreed, and their counterparts watched them warily.

 

"What's that?" Jeremy asked curiously, and Michael blew out a breath.

 

"What the hell are we going to do?"

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When lunch rolled around, the four boys all sat in their old seats, pulling out their respective meals. The girls glanced at each other, looking at them cautiously. Michael had put on his headphones, and Jake stared down at his food, picking at it awkwardly. Rich bumped his shoulder fondly, and Jake smiled at him.

 

"Uhhhh..." Jenna started, trying to read their expressions. "So what happened?"

 

"Michael and I broke up." Jake tells them, and their faces all morph into sympathy and concern.

 

"Really? Why?" Brooke asked, a sad look on her face.

 

"Was it because of the fight?" Jenna asked knowingly.

 

"Ehhh, I guess a little. It was mostly because I have feelings for Rich."

 

He said this nonchalantly, as if it was something he said every day.

 

"Ohhhh, I knew it!" Chloe breathed, and Brooke nodded in agreement. Jenna had a pensive look on her face, as if piecing together a puzzle.

 

Michael, seeing everyone's reaction, pulled off his headphones, just as Christine leaned over to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

  

"Are you okay?" She asked, and the three other girls murmured in agreement to her question. Michael just shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets.

 

"I'm fine. It just wasn't meant to be. It's not like it was anything serious."

 

They looked a little taken aback by the completely calm approach to their break-up, and Christine pulled her hand away, puzzled.

 

"Are you going to tell us what happened yesterday?" Jenna inquired slowly, trying not to cross any lines.

 

The four boys shared a look, and Jake turned back to smile at them.

 

"Nope." He said, popping the p. Jeremy, Michael, and Rich also shook their heads, and Rich even shrugged his shoulders in an 'oh, well' fashion.

 

Their official 'game plan' that they'd formed in the last five minutes before classes started was just to fake a break-up. Honestly, it almost felt too simple a solution for a problem that had caused so much trouble. Rich and Jake were going to start up their relationship publicly immediately after, and Michael and Jeremy agreed to slowly introduce theirs over the course of the next month. As to whether or not the others will ever find out what actually happened during Jachael's short-lived relationship, that was still in the air. They probably wouldn't for another year or so, but hey, it'd make a killer anecdote later.

 

Michael felt kind of bad for lying to them, but he was glad everything was somehow working out. The girls seemed to buy their excuse, and treated them carefully over the remaining time left at lunch. As the group all got up to go back to class, the four boys shared small, secretive grins between them. It was sort of exciting, a little secret they all shared paired with the relief that it was finally over. 

 

Things felt like they just might be okay.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy sat back in Michael's car at the end of the day, turning his head to smile lazily at his boyfriend. He felt a giddy rush at being able to connect that word now to his best friend.

 

"It all worked out." He said quietly, watching Michael pull out his keys.

 

"Yeah." Michael responded, looking over at him as he turned the keys in the ignition and the car sputtered to life. "It really did, didn't it?"

 

"I told you it'd be okay." Jeremy said, and Michael laughed lightly, grinning fondly back at him. "I just wish we could be as open as Rich and Jake get to be. Why did they get priority, again?"

 

"Have patience, Jer." Michael told him, grabbing his hand between their seats. "We'll get there."

 

As they pull out of the parking lot, Michael let his mind wander.

 

He felt kind of bad about having to lie to the others, but it really would make a great story. Imagine telling it to their kids one day. The kind of story they'd all laugh about years from now, or the story the best man would tell at their wedding. 

 

For some reason, it's this small, peaceful moment that Michael thinks back to four years from now, as he watches Jeremy get down on one knee. It's the new feeling of their hands clasped, along with the knowledge that it'd all be okay, that comes back to him as Jeremy fumbles through a meticulously planned speech, and he can't stop smiling.

 

But that's a story for another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is! The ending! I'm not used to writing endings like this, since I usually stick to one-shots (or unfinished WIPs), so I hope it doesn't suck or anything. It's a little shorter than all the other chapters were, so sorry about that. Writers block was hitting me hard, which is why I took so long and partly why this chapter is kinda dull. 
> 
> As always, please leave a comment on what you thought! Hope the ending lived up to whatever you expected!
> 
> Side Note: At my grocery store, they were selling a bunch of Crystal Pepsi with the slogan 'Last chance to taste the 90s' and I couldn't stop thinking about Michael and how it was a sign that I had to finish this today. Also, he would be so psyched if his grocery store did that, because it's probably a lot cheaper and easier than buying it at the back of Spencer's Gifts.


End file.
